


Imaginings and Estimations

by romanticalgirl



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2014-02-02
Packaged: 2018-01-10 21:38:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1164815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romanticalgirl/pseuds/romanticalgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Willow and Buffy both have a secret - Giles</p>
            </blockquote>





	Imaginings and Estimations

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted 2000

"Okay, how hard can it be?" Buffy took a deep breath and stared at the door in front of her. "I just look him in the eye, brace myself and tell him that I lost the book that he needed. Surely he'll forgive me, I mean, it wasn't my fault that the demon I ran into was made of some sort of sludge that caused paper to disintegrate, right?" Nodding, she pulled the key from her pocket and placed it in the lock.

She stopped for a minute, wondering about knocking. Giles had given them all keys and they used them unmercilessly, giving him no privacy whatsoever. If he hadn't slept in tweed before, he most certainly did now. She raised her hand to knock then shook her head. Nope. He gave them keys. He said, very distinctly, this was their place now too.

She turned the key, let the door swing open and walked in. "Hey Giles, I have some good news and some…" She stopped, stunned at the sight in front of her. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out at she stared at…at… "Willow?"

Willow blushed a vicious shade of red and clutched the only thing she was wearing - Giles' unbuttoned shirt - to her. "Oh, um, hi Buffy."

"W…wha…wha…what the hell is going on?" Buffy slammed the door shut behind her, her guilt at having lost Giles' book completely gone. "Wh…why are you in Giles' clothes and so help me God, he'd better not be *not* wearing any!"

"I…" Willow blushed and took a step back from Buffy's advancing figure. "I can…can explain."

"Where. Is. Giles?" Buffy's voice lost it's shocked tone, slipping into a more predatory one. She took a step toward Willow, her eyes glinting dangerously.

"Out?" Willow offered nervously.

"Huh?" The advancing stopped and Buffy's eyes clouded with confusion. "You mean…you're not here with him." Her voice hardened. "In his clothes."

Willow let out a soft groan and sank down onto the couch. "You're going to think I'm completely nuts."

"I'm already there, Wills." She came around the couch and sat in the chair opposite her friend. Willow was clutching the shirt even tighter around her. "What's going on?"

Sighing, Willow met her eyes. "I have a thing."

"A thing? A cross-dressing thing?"

"A thing for Giles." Willow laughed sadly. "I knew he wasn't going to be here this morning, so I snuck over and was just imagining."

Buffy's eyes widened. "You have a thing for Giles?"

"Oh, okay little miss jealous." Willow laughed with real humor this time. "You're the one coming after me like some scorned woman and you're weirded out by the fact that I have a thing for him?"

"I don't have…I'm not…" Buffy trailed off and thought back to how she'd entered the room. "Oh shit."

"Told you."

"But…at least I don't come over here and dress up in his clothes and imagine…what were you imagining?" Buffy glared over at Willow, her anger more directed at herself than her friend. "Living happily ever after?"

Casting a quick glance down at her distinct lack of attire, Willow blushed yet again. "Not…not exactly."

Following her eyes before looking quickly back up, Buffy shrieked quietly. "You were…Willow! Where?"

"Up…upstairs. In…in his bed?" She turned a dark shade of crimson and buried her head in her hands. "Oh God, Buffy! I never meant for anyone to know and I'm so embarrassed and I just want to die!"

"It's okay, Wills. I'll keep your secret if you keep mine." Buffy moved over to the couch and put her arm around her friend. "Just one question though?"

"What?" Willow mumbled.

"Why were you downstairs?"

Blushing even more, Willow bit her lip. "I forgot my purse down here."

"And you needed it for…?" Buffy picked up the item and opened it, matching Willow's shade of red when she saw what was inside it. "Oh."

"Sometimes…my imagination isn't as good as I like it to be."

"Too much information there, Wills." Buffy kept staring into Willow's bag, her thoughts on Giles and how exactly Willow's item measured up to the real thing. "But, regardless, um, I think you should get dressed and we should pretend this never happened."

"I think…I think that's a good idea." Willow stood and ran up the stairs to Giles' bedroom, intent on getting dressed.

Buffy set the purse down and stared into the fireplace. After a few moments, she walked up the stairs as well and stood in the doorway of the bedroom as Willow finished dressing. "How do you think he feels about us?"

"I don't know." Willow stared at Buffy's reflection in the mirror. "I don't know if he thinks of us at all."

"We could find out? Like an experiment. You could do stuff with him and then I could do stuff with him and we could see if he likes one or the other."

"And what if he likes me, Buffy?"

"You think he'd like you better?" She asked quickly, her voice taking on an angry edge again. Seeing Willow's expression, she smiled weakly. "Oh."

"Your friendship is more important to me than knowing if Giles has a thing for me, Buffy. Or a thing for you, for that matter. If something ever did happen, on it's own accord, that would be something different. But I'm not going to play with anyone's emotions. I know how much it hurts."

"I know too."

She shrugged and picked up the shirt she'd been wearing, inhaling his scent. "This is enough. Even if it's all I ever get."

Buffy nodded. "You're never going to do this again, right Wills?" She watched as her friend folded the shirt neatly and clutched it to her chest. "Or at least, maybe we can make a schedule so that we don't run into each other?"

Willow's eyes widened and she burst into giggles. "I thought you were scandalized."

"Well…by the size. You really think he's that big?"

Willow shrugged and smiled, following Buffy out of the room. "There aren't too many things, tweed or otherwise, that you can layer in that area. So it's got to be all natural."

"You've been staring at my Watcher's…"

"Buffy? Willow?" Giles' voice carried up from downstairs. "Is everything all right?"

Willow tucked the shirt inside the front of her overalls and looked at Buffy sternly. "Yes, I've been staring at your Watcher. And I bet you do too." She stuck out her tongue and ran down the stairs, accidentally colliding with Giles at the bottom.

He sprawled out onto the floor with her on top of him, staring up into his Slayer's smiling face. "Ow."

"Hi Giles."

Willow struggled to climb off him, her body wriggling against his as she did so. He bit back a moan and helped her away from his body before standing up himself. "Do you have my book?"

"Your book…oh. Well I have some good news and some bad news." Buffy looked at Willow who was staring pointedly below Giles' belt and grinning. Buffy followed her gaze and realized Willow's…estimation was closer than anything she owned.

She had some shopping to do.


End file.
